OT: Why welfare doesn't work!

Good idea, but the teacher's unions would be against it... ;-)

Too many child welfare laws out there to 'protect' children from making a living, or helping out.

Good idea! Also, make a path that doesn't require children in order to get assistance, and lessens assistance as there are more children!

In the 20 years I interviewed high school students for admission to MIT I noticed something interesting... consistently the students from more well-to-do families were more likely to be holding down a part-time job while attending school, and working full-time during the summers.

...Jim Thompson

Ain't management grand?

They don't invest in modern machine tools, and rely on being able to continue pay third world wages to dumb West Virginians. When the West Virginians turn out to be less dumb than management had hoped, they junk the entire factory.

British management used to complain that British industrial workers were less productive that German workers, until an economist worked out how to include capital investment per worker into the statistics, when it was revealed that where the two work forces were compared in situtaions where the capital investment per worker was matched, the British worker came out slightly ahead.

This revelation did not persuade British management to invest more in manufacturing industry, which continued to decline.

-- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

Your friend's 'argument' is really just an assertion that children end up on welfare because of their parents being on welfare, and thus that welfare doesn't work. While it seems like common sense, we all know that common sense is often wrong.

I assert (without evidence) that the US welfare system does work in many cases, where 'work' means helping young mothers care for their young, helping people in low-job, high crime neighborhoods avoid a criminal lifestyle, etc. Prove me wrong. Please cite statistics... anecdotal evidence isn't very convincing.

Oh, and while you are at it, you might outline your (friend's) alternative to the current system that (hopefully) does not include slave labor, debtors prisons, food riots, or starving people to death.

Regards, Bob Monsen

The problem is that the system, contrived by DemocRATS, doesn't reward effort, it rewards the status quo.

If you think the welfare system works I'd be more than happy to take you on a walking tour of "The Projects".

It would be helpful if you are comfortable with defending yourself with a gun, so that I only have to look after myself ;-)

...Jim Thompson

Only a leftist weenie would go to the devil to find out about angels.

The sign-up cards is simply to qualify the union for an election. The election determines whether, or not, the union represents the workers. the issue at hand is whether this election is by closed ballot or open, with the attendant corruption.

All unions are.

It's the only legal "fix" the employer has at his disposal.

Of a union shop?

...and no one learned the lesson.

They have to. You have to be poor to receive a state "scholar"ship and insanely rich to pay everything out of pocket.

I forgot to respond to that "dumb f*ck shit-headed leftist weenie bastard LIAR" Slowman who implied that the factory was some kind of 18th century sweat shop... INCO _was_ the finest roller and fabricator of nickel and nickel alloys (sheet and tubing) in the world. When I last toured inside, shown around by the general manager, a fellow MIT graduate, it was mostly computer controlled in the style of a modern automobile plant.

...Jim Thompson

I lucked out when I was a kid. Back then, MIT gave scholarships based strictly on merit. Now-a-days I would probably get next to nothing. In 1958 my father was one of those guys the leftist weenies hate so much, an entrepreneur, owned both a hardware store and a TV repair shop... in today's dollars he was netting $112K/year.

...Jim Thompson

On Sep 11, 6:46=EF=BF=BDpm, Jim Thompson wrote: in his sig...

=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD Lipstick= !

Either way... pucker up!!

mpm, I finally figured out what it is with your reader... it somehow throws up over what it considers excess _spaces_.

Try and fix that. Very annoying when reading.

...Jim Thompson

Jim, you can't fix stupid, and the Google Groups software is quite stupid. It makes you wonder if their new 'browser' is real Chrome, or just painted plastic. :(

are is quite

OK, OK... I promise in the coming weeks I'll switch to a real newsreader. On my end, I never see what everyone is complaining about..? Other than I know if I leave Jim's sig in, it seems to barf out loud. (And actually, Jim's sig doesn't display right either - looks like a proportional font used where one shouldn't be used...)

As for chrome, plastic would be a step up. It's probably cardboard.

-mpm

I can guarantee you that it's NOT proportional.

...Jim Thompson

Google groups defaults to a proportional display. There is an option to use fixed font.

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and carefully sabotaged by the Republicans, who don't want it to work

Another one of Jim's unjustified and unjustifiable claims.

So he could admire the mess created by an inadequate welfare system? We do know how to do better but it takes money. The Republicans are never going to let anybody spend enough money on welfare to create a success story - the example might be catching.

The Republican war on crime is as half-hearted as the Republican war on terrorism - they need criminal and terrorists to justify the money they pay for "security" which - mysteriously - seems to go exclusively to firms who support Republican electoral campaigns and politicians.

-- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

A proportional font would pose problems which Jim isn't equipped to tackle. He seems to have been born without a sense of proportion.

As will be on record in his FBI file - search under right wing nut- cases.

-- Bill Sloman, Nijmegen

The question is, what would 'the projects' be like without the welfare system? Some people just can't take care of themselves. They are broken or battered or wounded, and can't figure out how to make a living. Some people need short term help. We can't just let them die, or stick them all in jail (although that seems like the solution these days, particularly in California).

If you think that being on welfare is a 'reward', try living on a welfare check for a few months. Now, try it at 18, with a 2 year old. Some fun, eh? No wonder people work two or three jobs to make ends meet.

'Myth: People on Welfare Become Permanently Dependent on the Support'

'Fact: Movement off Welfare Rolls Is Frequent'

'A prevalent welfare myth is that women who received AFDC became permanently dependent on public assistance. Analyses indicate that 56 percent of AFDC support ended within 12 months, 70 percent within 24 months, and almost 85 percent within 4 years (Staff of House Committee on Ways and Means, 1996). These exit rates clearly contradict the widespread myth that AFDC recipients wanted to remain on public assistance or that welfare dependency was permanent. Unfortunately, return rates were also high, with 45 percent of ex-recipients returning to AFDC within 1 year. Persons who were likely to use AFDC longer than the average time had less than 12 years of education, no recent work experience, were never married, had a child below age 3 or had three or more children, were Latina or African American, and were under age 24 (Staff of House Committee on Ways and Means, 1996). These risk factors illustrate the importance of structural barriers, such as inadequate child care, racism, and lack of education.'

See the following link for more 'liberal clap-trap'. :)

Regards, Bob Monsen